A wireless lighting system typically includes a gateway device and multiple lighting devices that can wirelessly communicate with the gateway device. After a power outage, a reset, or during a commissioning process, all lighting devices within a range of the gateway device attempt to establish wireless communications (i.e., pair) with the gateway device and to wirelessly communicate with the gateway device. The large number of attempts by the multiple lighting devices can cause network overload, package collisions, and other network issues that can result in dropped messages or even network failure. Thus, a solution that facilitates orderly establishment of wireless communications between the gateway device and the wireless lighting devices of the system is desirable.